Requires DHSS to authorize Jersey City to issue
certified copies of birth certificates by December 31, 2010.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel

An Act concerning the issuance of certified copies of birth
certificates and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Commissioner of Health
and Senior Services shall, no later than December 31, 2010, authorize the
Hudson County Office of Vital Statistics in Jersey City to issue certified
copies of birth certificates, upon request, to persons born in Jersey City who
present all required documentation and pay any required fees for the
certificate.

2. The Commissioner of
Health and Senior Services shall, in accordance with the “Administrative
Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt such rules and
regulations as he deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.

3. This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the
Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, no later than December 31, 2010, to
authorize the Hudson County Office of Vital Statistics in Jersey City to issue
certified copies of birth certificates, upon request, to persons born in Jersey
City who present all required documentation and pay any required fees for the
certificate.

Several years ago, upon
determining that some birth certificates issued by the Hudson County Office of
Vital Statistics in Jersey City were not valid and the security of the vital
records was compromised, the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS)
mandated that persons born in Jersey City seeking to obtain a certified copy of
their birth certificate for identification purposes to obtain a passport or
driver’s license would have to either obtain the birth certificate directly
from DHSS in Trenton, or use the web-based system available through the DHSS
website. In either case, this results in a delay and additional costs in
obtaining the certificate; and this is a delay that other State residents (not
born in Jersey City) are not subject to because they can access the needed
certificate quickly and easily by requesting it at their local vital statistics
office. This bill, therefore, will restore the ability of persons born in Jersey
City to obtain a copy of their birth certificates in the same manner as do
other residents of the State.